Wealthy Chinese seek US surrogates for second child or green card

American surrogate mothers are increasingly being hired by the rich and privileged to fulfil their desires for 'designer' children and US citizenship

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Businessman Tony Jiang poses with his three children, all born in California to an American surrogate he calls 'my Amanda'. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:04pm, 23 Sep 2013Updated: 4:18am, 24 Sep 2013

Wealthy Chinese are hiring American women to serve as surrogates for their children, creating a small but growing business in US$120,000 “designer” American babies for China’s elite.

Surrogacy agencies in China and the United States are catering to wealthy Chinese who want a baby outside the country’s restrictive family planning policies, who are unable to conceive themselves, or who are seeking US citizenship for their children.

Emigration as a family is another draw - US citizens may apply for Green Cards for their parents when they turn 21.

While there is no data on the total number of Chinese who have sought or used US surrogates, agencies in both countries say demand has risen rapidly in the last two years.

US fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies are creating Chinese-language websites and hiring Mandarin speakers.

Boston-based Circle Surrogacy has handled half a dozen Chinese surrogacy cases over the last five years, said president John Weltman.

“I would be surprised if you called me back in four months and that number hadn’t doubled,” he said. “That’s the level of interest we’ve seen this year from China and the very serious conversations we’ve had with people who I think will be joining us in the next three or four months.”